The Book On Town-Hall Conservatives

As we continue to monitor what Democrats plan to do about the angry groups showing up to their town-hall meetings, here's a memo from Health Care for America Now!, the gigantic coalition of progressive interest groups backing President Obama's health care reform effort, on how to fight back against the angry conservatives that have been showing up to Democratic town-hall meetings.

We know what the White House/DNC strategy is for the town-hall mayhem: ridicule the angry conservatives. Accuse them of Astroturfing, being organized by DC-based groups like FreedomWorks, or of working on behalf of the health insurance industry. Point out the more outlandish things done and said by the angry conservatives (like hanging a member of Congress in effigy).

That's a national-level media strategy, but it's not a ground
game. And that's where HCAN's memo comes in: it's essentially a
four-page handbook on hand-to-hand activist combat in the new battlefield of heated town-halls
that's emerged this August.

It means the liberal activist network has turned its attention to the
town-hall problem. Until now, liberals have focused on turning out
members for phone banking, visits to congressional offices,
canvasses, leaflets at churches and worksites, and rallies--a different
battleground entirely. (HCAN makes up
roughly half of the liberal activist effort on health care, along with
Organizing for America.) But now that town-hall confrontations have
dominated discussion of health care this week--and, if unchecked, may
continue to dominate discussion for the rest of August--HCAN is
addressing it with a turnout effort of its own.

One critical suggestion from the memo: "Bring more people than the other side has." That is something that's been missing from theseYouTubevideos--liberal activists making their voices heard, as well.

HCAN suggests its activists interrupt the conservatives when they get
disruptive--and organize people in the group ahead of time who feel comfortable doing
so. Say things like, "I want to hear the Representative speak. He's the one voting on the bill. Representative, how will this
bill help people who already have insurance at work?"

The memo warns not to get into shouting matches with conservatives, but rather
to keep raising the suggested questions. It does recommend liberals
"demonstrate that we are the majority by chanting."

It also recommends coordinating the event with the member of Congress
ahead of time to agree on a format for the town-hall and address
concerns, selecting a strong moderator to keep the discussion
disciplined, establish ground rules for conduct, and "assign marshals
to take care of moving the crowd, keeping people organized and orderly,
and acting as security should any need arise to ask noisy or disruptive
protesters to leave."

Other guidelines: inoculate yourself and your volunteers by knowing
what to expect from the conservatives, get there earlier, coordinate
with the member of Congress's office, talk to reporters, follow up with
the lawmaker one-on-one.